HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0905.000 2008-2010 �pE,WarER _
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19: 49 • ; .. ,' DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY • COUNTY OF HAWAII
'y ' 345 KEKUANAO`A STREET, SUITE 20 • HILO, HAWAII 96720
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TELEPHONE (808) 961 -8050 • FAX (808) 961 -8657
July 26, 2010 .
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TO: Mr. J. S. Yoshimoto, Chairperson, and
Members of the Hawaii County Council
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FROM: Milton D. Pavao, Manager
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SUBJECT: WATER USE AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN UPDATE STATUS AND REQUEST
TO MODIFY THE ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR FUTURE UPDATES TO
THE PLAN
The Department of Water Supply would like to do a presentation for the County Council members on
the recent update to the Hawaii County Water Use and Development Plan (WUDP). The County
WUDP falls within the framework of the State Water Plan. The County plan looks at all of the current
and future water users and uses around the island. It then compares the established safe yields of the
island's various aquifers to the potential water demands for the lands situated above each of those
aquifers. The potential demand estimates are based on the County General Plan's land use
classifications and the current zoning of the land areas. Land areas with particular classifications and
zonings were assigned set maximum water demands per acre to come up with future total water
demands. The plan looks at where we will be in 2025 as well as where we will be at full build -out,
well into the future.
Along with the presentation, we are also seeking to request a change in the existing County Ordinance
which specifies that the plan should be updated every five years. The original plan was done in 1992;
but because funding was lacking from the State, the updates were not being done. The Hawaii County
Department of Water Supply eventually stepped in and funded the current update to the plan. The
other counties throughout the State are working on their own county -level plans. Therefore, this
current update is the first update since the original plan was done. After our experience gained during
the recent updating process, it is our belief that the five -year cycle is much too short and would be
unnecessarily costly and time consuming to pursue at that rate of frequency. Our current update
illustrates that most areas on the Island of Hawai`i have abundant water available within the
underground aquifers to meet the highest potential demands for the existing land classifications and
zoning. We have found, though, that there are some areas on the Island of Hawaii where water
demand could exceed the conventional water supply sometime in the future; and these areas warrant
more focused study. Therefore, future studies should concentrate on these areas of interest.
Otherwise, we feel that comprehensive updates should only be done when significant factors that
might impact the ability to meet the water demands come into play. Unless there is some new event
COMP& Na 9O c
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Ref. Dote AUG 0 2 2010
... Water, Our 9vtost Precious Resource ... g(a Wai pane .. .
The Department of Water Supply is an Equal Opportunity provider and employer.
Mr. J. S. Yoshimoto, Chairman, and
Members of the Hawai`i County Council
Page 2
July 26, 2010
that has a measureable effect on the water supply in a particular area, there is little reason to soon
repeat our recent efforts just to re- discover what is already known. For greater value and efficiency,
we believe future updates should be focused on specific areas of interest and event driven.
We would like to make this presentation to the Council at the next available opportunity, which will be
August 17. We wanted to go forward with the Council presentation before we do a final submittal to
the State of Hawai`i, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Commission on Water Resource
Management (CWRM), for adoption of the updated plan.
Please contact Mr. Lawrence Beck of our Water Resources and Planning Branch at (808) 961 -8070,
extension 260, or by email at lbeck @hawaiidws.org, should you have any questions.
Sincerely yours,
, r
ilton D. Pavao, P.E.
Manager
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